Was there ever a time when life on earth was peaceful? No predators, no prey, just vibes?
Published on Friday, 13th June 2025.
We explore the science behind hums – phenomena of persistent, low noise
Published on Friday, 6th June 2025.
A CrowdScience guide to quantum physics
Published on Friday, 30th May 2025.
Bee populations are declining - could eating honey help support them?
Published on Friday, 23rd May 2025.
Local culture and local cultures at the Sofia Science Festival in Bulgaria
Published on Friday, 16th May 2025.
Just how reliable is this common weather proverb?
Published on Friday, 9th May 2025.
Why is getting to sleep much harder for some people than others?
Published on Friday, 2nd May 2025.
We ask leading agricultural experts about global food security
Published on Friday, 25th April 2025.
Why do some people find it easier to be punctual than others?
Published on Friday, 18th April 2025.
Answering your questions about life, Earth and the universe
Published on Friday, 11th April 2025.
As sea levels rise, will mountains shrink? How do we measure height above sea level?
Published on Friday, 4th April 2025.
We tackle gravity - a fundamental force of the universe, yet also an everyday mystery
Published on Friday, 28th March 2025.
Do food allergies vary around the world – and if so, why?
Published on Friday, 21st March 2025.
Why is one partner usually the norm for humans around the world?
Published on Friday, 14th March 2025.
The wetness of water seems obvious - but dive into the science and it's not so clear cut
Published on Friday, 7th March 2025.
Can we track down a tangerine variety lodged in one listener's memory?
Published on Friday, 28th February 2025.
Why do we see so many colours in the sky, but never green?
Published on Friday, 21st February 2025.
A question about bathroom tiles has us wondering whether everything is pre-determined
Published on Friday, 14th February 2025.
Some huge milestones happen in our first years of life - but why do we forget them?
Published on Friday, 7th February 2025.
Do smartwatches reliably monitor fitness? And can they make us healthier?
Published on Friday, 31st January 2025.
What altitude can birds cope with, and which species soars highest?
Published on Friday, 24th January 2025.
Humans emit far too much planet-warming carbon, but what about other species?
Published on Friday, 17th January 2025.
How does non-alcoholic beer differ from the original - and is it better for us?
Published on Friday, 10th January 2025.
Falling can be serious – so why do we find it embarrassing or even funny?
Published on Friday, 3rd January 2025.
Did you know that flies fly in rectangles and fish hide by lighting themselves up?
Published on Friday, 27th December 2024.
Anand Jagatia is joined by a panel of experts to answer listener questions about the Moon
Published on Friday, 20th December 2024.
What makes people seek out unpleasant or painful sensations, like eating chilli?
Published on Friday, 13th December 2024.
What skills do you need to complete a jigsaw puzzle? And why do we enjoy them?
Published on Saturday, 7th December 2024.
Why some people get lost while others have a great sense of where they are
Published on Friday, 29th November 2024.
And how do some animals tackle the ageing process head on?
Published on Friday, 22nd November 2024.
What shapes the sound of your voice? And is everybody’s voice unique?
Published on Friday, 15th November 2024.
A mysterious shift in sunshine through one listener’s window requires investigation
Published on Friday, 8th November 2024.
We explore the mysterious phenomenon of bioluminescence
Published on Friday, 1st November 2024.
Can learning multiple languages make us forget our native tongue?
Published on Friday, 25th October 2024.
Deodorant hasn’t been around forever, so is there any evolutionary reason for body odour?
Published on Friday, 18th October 2024.
Is there a perfect way to elect politicians?
Published on Friday, 11th October 2024.
With huge heads on spindly stalks, how do sunflowers defy gravity to stay standing?
Published on Wednesday, 9th October 2024.
The Moon was once much closer to Earth. How did its gravity affect a dinosaur’s weight?
Published on Friday, 27th September 2024.
Why is 18 considered the start of adulthood in many places? Does science back this up?
Published on Friday, 20th September 2024.
The car is a killer but does that make it top of the food chain?
Published on Friday, 13th September 2024.
What’s the science behind the silent inner voice many of us experience?
Published on Friday, 6th September 2024.
Where do our healing powers begin and where do they end?
Published on Friday, 30th August 2024.
Why is one side of the human body pretty much a mirror image of the other side?
Published on Friday, 23rd August 2024.
This simple metal box enables so much global trade. But could we make it more efficient?
Published on Friday, 16th August 2024.
What allows fish to cope with the immense water pressure of the ocean depths?
Published on Friday, 9th August 2024.
Alex Lathbridge explores the genetics, culture and neuroscience of handwriting
Published on Friday, 2nd August 2024.
Why are nouns coded as male or female in some languages but not others?
Published on Friday, 26th July 2024.
How do buildings affect our emotions – whether fear or sadness, wonder or joy?
Published on Friday, 19th July 2024.
Simple question, tricky answer. To weigh the internet, what should we put on the scales?
Published on Friday, 12th July 2024.
What gives snakes their gravity-defying climbing skills?
Published on Friday, 5th July 2024.
Flies are everywhere. But just how many have ever lived?
Published on Friday, 28th June 2024.
Are atoms as individual as snowflakes – and if not, where does uniqueness begin?
Published on Friday, 21st June 2024.
How does salt get into the world's oceans, and is melting ice making them any fresher?
Published on Friday, 14th June 2024.
Could a raindrop from the UK travel all the way to New Zealand?
Published on Friday, 7th June 2024.
What chemistry makes some wines age well, while others turn to vinegar?
Published on Friday, 31st May 2024.
Should we re-calculate the height of mountains to account for sea levels rising?
Published on Friday, 24th May 2024.
Can science explain the effects of prayer on our brains and wellbeing?
Published on Friday, 17th May 2024.
We visit Malawi to discuss malaria, mosquitoes and a world-leading vaccination programme
Published on Friday, 10th May 2024.
Why are some people better at mathematics than others?
Published on Friday, 3rd May 2024.
What’s the best way to combat coastal erosion?
Published on Friday, 26th April 2024.
What is coastal erosion and why is it a problem?
Published on Friday, 19th April 2024.
How can we hear a sound and immediately know where it’s coming from?
Published on Friday, 12th April 2024.
Listener Alpha in Sierra Leone asks us to count all the humans who have ever lived
Published on Friday, 5th April 2024.
We head to New Zealand to ask how a hotter planet will affect volcanoes.
Published on Friday, 29th March 2024.
Why do we bite our nails - and do animals share similar habits?
Published on Friday, 22nd March 2024.
How useful is the Body Mass Index?
Published on Friday, 15th March 2024.
Caroline Steel investigates what affects the way we see the colours of the world
Published on Friday, 8th March 2024.
What's the environmental impact of all the data we use?
Published on Friday, 1st March 2024.
Published on Friday, 23rd February 2024.
From sundials to atomic clocks via Big Ben, a quest into the history of timekeeping.
Published on Friday, 16th February 2024.
Will we ever be able to predict earthquakes?
Published on Friday, 9th February 2024.
Meandering into your wandering mind, why can’t we stay present?
Published on Friday, 2nd February 2024.
The CrowdScience team are tested to the limit to see how brainy they are.
Published on Friday, 26th January 2024.
Was there a semi-aquatic period for humans as we’ve evolved?
Published on Friday, 19th January 2024.
Can we plant enough trees to soak up all the extra carbon we put into the atmosphere?
Published on Friday, 12th January 2024.
Will electric cars solve noise pollution?
Published on Friday, 5th January 2024.
Welcome to Part 2 of our year-end extravaganza, full of bonus content and stories
Published on Friday, 29th December 2023.
It’s Part 1 of CrowdScience’s year-end extravaganza! Say hello to some familiar faces.
Published on Friday, 22nd December 2023.
How come a seed can do nothing for months, or even years, before bursting into life?
Published on Friday, 15th December 2023.
What happens to the fat in our bodies when we exercise?
Published on Friday, 8th December 2023.
Is it possible to control someone’s mind?
Published on Friday, 1st December 2023.
Why our brains respond differently if we listen to books instead of reading them
Published on Friday, 24th November 2023.
Almost all of us lie. But how did it become so engrained in human behaviour?
Published on Friday, 17th November 2023.
Listener Julian wants to know what to expect on the other side of this climate threshold.
Published on Friday, 10th November 2023.
What we eat impacts our microbiome. How does that impact our mental health?
Published on Friday, 3rd November 2023.
Why are some animals cute – and some downright weird?
Published on Friday, 27th October 2023.
This week on CrowdScience: which is healthier, farmed salmon or wild?
Published on Friday, 20th October 2023.
CrowdScience listener Kristine wants to know why herbs and spices taste so good?
Published on Friday, 13th October 2023.
We depend on ecosystems for our survival, so can we play a more sustainable role in them?
Published on Friday, 6th October 2023.
It's easy to observe that we ourselves are conscious but how do you study this phenomenon?
Published on Friday, 29th September 2023.
With advances in stem cell research, could we grow a human brain? And would we want to?
Published on Friday, 22nd September 2023.
What makes a fear become a phobia, and where do they come from?
Published on Friday, 15th September 2023.
Caroline Steel investigates how we respond to stress.
Published on Friday, 8th September 2023.
What would it take for all eight billion of us to share the planet sustainably?
Published on Friday, 1st September 2023.
Why do butterflies and moths fly so erratically, but land so precisely?
Published on Friday, 25th August 2023.
How do we go about trying to weigh the internet – what even counts as part of it?
Published on Friday, 18th August 2023.
Investigating whether our canine companions are good for our health and wellbeing
Published on Friday, 11th August 2023.
Does living somewhere sunny make us happier and healthier?
Published on Friday, 4th August 2023.
How music and emotion are intimately linked
Published on Friday, 28th July 2023.
Why boredom affects some people more than others and why it can lead to innovation
Published on Friday, 21st July 2023.
With a panel of experts, we unpack why some people (and animals) are left or right-handed
Published on Friday, 14th July 2023.
Anand Jagatia finds out why we lose our sense of balance
Published on Friday, 7th July 2023.
What are food cravings and why do we crave unhealthy foods instead of healthy ones?
Published on Friday, 30th June 2023.
How efficient are humans?
Published on Friday, 23rd June 2023.
Anand Jagatia discovers what mental images are for and why some people don’t have them
Published on Friday, 16th June 2023.
What happens if artificial intelligence starts learning from its own material?
Published on Friday, 9th June 2023.
Caroline Steel finds out how dementia affects our ability to speak
Published on Friday, 2nd June 2023.
With astronomers and physicists, we unpack how we know the Earth revolves around the sun
Published on Friday, 26th May 2023.
Can sea swimming improve my health?
Published on Friday, 19th May 2023.
Is laziness biological, psychological … or even a real thing?
Published on Friday, 12th May 2023.
Flightless wings, flawless eggs, priceless feathers… meet the ostrich!
Published on Friday, 5th May 2023.
Trillions of microbes live inside our gut. What impact do they have on our body?
Published on Friday, 28th April 2023.
Anand Jagatia finds out whether we have a sense of time, like our sense of taste or touch.
Published on Friday, 21st April 2023.
How many planets in the universe could be harbouring alien life?
Published on Friday, 14th April 2023.
We take to the skies to find out what effect working at 35,000 feet has on one's health.
Published on Friday, 7th April 2023.
How do we hear a sound and immediately know where it’s coming from?
Published on Friday, 31st March 2023.
Sweating, nausea, chest pain: panic attacks affect 1 in 14 people but what is going on?
Published on Friday, 24th March 2023.
CrowdScience uncovers how nature is weaving its way into robotic design
Published on Friday, 17th March 2023.
Marnie Chesterton finds out how clever climbing plants are.
Published on Friday, 3rd March 2023.
Where does our fat go when we exercise?
Published on Friday, 24th February 2023.
Which of the many claims about yoga are backed up by science?
Published on Friday, 17th February 2023.
Why does the thought of public speaking fill so many of us with terror?
Published on Thursday, 9th February 2023.
How does noise pollution impact wildlife and humans, and why do we hate certain sounds?
Published on Friday, 3rd February 2023.
Lonely desert dunes have a romantic image, but how did they get there in the first place?
Published on Friday, 27th January 2023.
Crowdscience grapples with the green-eyed monster in close relationships.
Published on Friday, 20th January 2023.
Marnie explores the many canny ways insects have adapted to survive extreme temperatures
Published on Friday, 13th January 2023.
What’s going on when we ride a bicycle, how do we stay upright? CrowdScience investigates
Published on Friday, 6th January 2023.
Work-place bullying between two parrots plus arctic cocktails with 5000 year old glacier
Published on Friday, 30th December 2022.
Blood is thicker than water but why are parents so annoying?
Published on Friday, 23rd December 2022.
Everything that moves involves frictional losses, but what actually is it?
Published on Sunday, 18th December 2022.
Blocking up gaps might reduce energy bills, but can you make your home too airtight?
Published on Friday, 9th December 2022.
Marnie turns to the skies to figure out how clouds form and how they get their shapes.
Published on Friday, 2nd December 2022.
Crowds gather in all sorts of places. But is there a science to how they move and behave?
Published on Friday, 25th November 2022.
Answering the sleep questions that have been keeping CrowdScience listeners awake.
Published on Friday, 18th November 2022.
We see Greenland’s ice is melting - so where should we go to live in the future?
Published on Friday, 11th November 2022.
CrowdScience heads to Greenland to understand the story of melting in a warming world.
Published on Friday, 4th November 2022.
Heatwaves, floods and drought. Is it climate change, or is it just weather?
Published on Friday, 28th October 2022.
Why are accents so hard to change even when you speak a language perfectly?
Published on Friday, 21st October 2022.
CrowdScience visits Nairobi, Kenya, to discuss mental health with a live audience
Published on Friday, 14th October 2022.
CrowdScience looks at what science can - and can't - tell us about homosexuality.
Published on Friday, 7th October 2022.
There are over 30, 000 species of fish – are they really all a similar shape?
Published on Friday, 30th September 2022.
Why do some things burn, while others refuse to catch fire?
Published on Friday, 23rd September 2022.
Do we all laugh at the same things or is there a language to learn first?
Published on Friday, 16th September 2022.
CrowdScience finds out whether there are some creatures that have a way with numbers.
Published on Saturday, 10th September 2022.
Published on Friday, 2nd September 2022.
CrowdScience explores what makes an object appear white.
Published on Friday, 19th August 2022.
CrowdScience explores how different smells affect your appetite.
Published on Monday, 15th August 2022.
Published on Friday, 5th August 2022.
CrowdScience burrows into the niggling world of earworms
Published on Friday, 22nd July 2022.
Can bacteria-munching viruses help with the growing problem of antimicrobial resistance?
Published on Friday, 15th July 2022.
Myck the artist from Malawi wants to know if there’s something different about his brain.
Published on Friday, 8th July 2022.
How can this nonliving structure be 'healthy' - and why is it concentrated on our heads?
Published on Friday, 1st July 2022.
How can we make the end of life a more positive experience for all involved?
Published on Friday, 24th June 2022.
What exactly are quantum computers? And when will they replace the computers we use now?
Published on Friday, 17th June 2022.
Published on Friday, 10th June 2022.
From sneezes and snot to saliva, we delve into the bodily fluids found in our faces.
Published on Friday, 3rd June 2022.
CrowdScience asks why precious metals and minerals are only found in certain places.
Published on Friday, 27th May 2022.
Archaeology means digging - but why does human history end up underground?
Published on Friday, 20th May 2022.
Why do some people have better memories than others?
Published on Friday, 13th May 2022.
With leaps in gene editing technology how might humans alter their genome?
Published on Friday, 6th May 2022.
It’s like riding a bike – you never forget. But why not?
Published on Friday, 29th April 2022.
What caused the prosperous Maya civilisation to collapse 1000 years ago?
Published on Friday, 22nd April 2022.
Are current tests of intelligence capturing all the different kinds of human smartness?
Published on Friday, 15th April 2022.
Have we already found the last T. rex? Or are there many more to be discovered?
Published on Friday, 8th April 2022.
How do animals accurately orientate themselves whilst journeying thousands of miles?
Published on Friday, 1st April 2022.
How are migrating animals able to reliably navigate sometimes over thousands of miles?
Published on Friday, 25th March 2022.
Is maths a human construct to help us make sense of reality Or is maths reality itself?
Published on Friday, 18th March 2022.
There are many claims about the benefits of massage. But which – if any – are true?
Published on Friday, 11th March 2022.
Insect superhighways, bees up mountains & flies in space – just how high can insects go?
Published on Friday, 4th March 2022.
How did we discover fire, and how did that knowledge spread around the world?
Published on Friday, 25th February 2022.
when spacecraft leave Earth, how do they navigate?
Published on Friday, 18th February 2022.
How can humans overcome self-interest and work together for the common good?
Published on Friday, 11th February 2022.
Explore the science of sound, journeying from the microphone to a radio receiver near you
Published on Friday, 28th January 2022.
CrowdScience finds out if we're any closer to unravelling the mysteries of dark matter.
Published on Friday, 21st January 2022.
Is a bigger head a sign of a higher intelligence? Marnie Chesterton unpicks the science
Published on Friday, 14th January 2022.
CrowdScience reveals why boredom is anything but boring.
Published on Friday, 7th January 2022.
Investigating questions about the science behind eggs cooking and eggs hatching
Published on Friday, 31st December 2021.
What better way to see out 2021 than to look back at our favourite things from the year?
Published on Friday, 24th December 2021.
The ancient preservation techniques that help prevent food waste
Published on Friday, 17th December 2021.
Life is full of choices – but how can we make the best ones?
Published on Friday, 10th December 2021.
Our world would fall apart without adhesives - but how do they hold things together?
Published on Friday, 3rd December 2021.
Is being optimistic really the best way to live your life?
Published on Friday, 26th November 2021.
Do our pampered house cats lose their survival instincts?
Published on Friday, 19th November 2021.
Concrete has a big CO2 footprint – so can we turn waste into new structures?
Published on Friday, 12th November 2021.
We head to the COP26 climate conference to hear about plans to slow down global warming
Published on Friday, 5th November 2021.
The island that’s run almost entirely on renewable energy
Published on Friday, 29th October 2021.
Is it responsible to bring a new person into existence?
Published on Friday, 22nd October 2021.
Published on Friday, 15th October 2021.
Gardeners might see snails as their enemy, but they are vital to life on earth
Published on Friday, 8th October 2021.
Can plants remember diseases or stressful events they have previously experienced?
Published on Friday, 1st October 2021.
Find out what influences when flowers open and the various factors that slow the process
Published on Friday, 24th September 2021.
How did evolution produce the clever organs with which you’re reading this?
Published on Friday, 17th September 2021.
Could power be beamed into hard to reach communities?
Published on Friday, 10th September 2021.
How to combat the light pollution that blots out starry skies and disrupts wildlife
Published on Friday, 3rd September 2021.
How have our sleep patterns changed over history and pre-history?
Published on Friday, 27th August 2021.
We’re dissecting our skin’s structure and roles and asking if science can give it a boost
Published on Saturday, 21st August 2021.
How can clever computing help us reduce greenhouse gas emissions?
Published on Friday, 13th August 2021.
What’s the scientific evidence for how gaming affects us?
Published on Friday, 6th August 2021.
We tackle questions about the best ways to recycle.
Published on Friday, 30th July 2021.
A CrowdScience listener wants to know if she is a psychopath.
Published on Friday, 23rd July 2021.
Can science explain why cables and headphones become tangled up and knotted?
Published on Friday, 16th July 2021.
We tackle questions about walking, standing, sitting and running
Published on Friday, 9th July 2021.
A buffet of food & flavour questions from listeners reaching from stomachs to outer space
Published on Friday, 2nd July 2021.
What happens when our sense of smell is disrupted or disappears all together?
Published on Friday, 25th June 2021.
Is the Earth getting heavier or lighter?
Published on Friday, 18th June 2021.
How our genes help determine how much sugar we should eat
Published on Friday, 11th June 2021.
Why did humans evolve to have periods and do we have to have them each month?
Published on Friday, 4th June 2021.
Noise can be a source of annoyance – but could it even be damaging to our health?
Published on Friday, 28th May 2021.
Can you pick a random atom on earth & tell how old it is, or what its cosmic history is?
Published on Friday, 21st May 2021.
Detoxifying plants may reveal untapped food ready for the picking
Published on Friday, 14th May 2021.
Why as children we effortlessly absorb new skills but as adults we don’t
Published on Friday, 7th May 2021.
Why are seeds the size they are? Does their size affect how big the plant grows?
Published on Friday, 30th April 2021.
Sewage testing could help stop the spread of disease
Published on Friday, 23rd April 2021.
Grief can be crippling. Why have we evolved to be so affected by loss?
Published on Friday, 16th April 2021.
Are we hardwired to seek out salacious stories and can we harness gossip for good?
Published on Friday, 9th April 2021.
If a tree falls in a forest, and there’s no-one there to hear it, does it make a sound?
Published on Friday, 2nd April 2021.
Find out how animals cure their illnesses
Published on Friday, 26th March 2021.
Are the space junk and carbon footprint issues of extra-terrestrial endeavours solvable?
Published on Friday, 19th March 2021.
The nerve connecting mind and body
Published on Friday, 12th March 2021.
How swearing relieves pain and helps us bond with others
Published on Friday, 5th March 2021.
Listener Paula from Kenya wants to know why men rule the world
Published on Friday, 26th February 2021.
Treehouses are magical but are they viable dwellings for modern living?
Published on Friday, 19th February 2021.
Why do some people navigate with ease whilst others struggle to find their way?
Published on Friday, 12th February 2021.
Can happiness boost immunity?
Published on Friday, 5th February 2021.
Investigating how lifestyle can affect male fertility
Published on Friday, 29th January 2021.
Could overzealous hygiene routines damage our immune system or promote superbugs?
Published on Friday, 22nd January 2021.
Meet the athletes pushing against the limits of human endurance
Published on Friday, 15th January 2021.
Is there more to living alongside greenery?
Published on Friday, 8th January 2021.
Fungal networks are entangled with life on Earth and even show signs of intelligence.
Published on Friday, 1st January 2021.
Some of the CrowdScience team answer listeners' questions from all over the world
Published on Friday, 25th December 2020.
Simon is sick of knocking stuff over, so CrowdScience looks at the science of clumsiness
Published on Friday, 18th December 2020.
How spaceship engineering could power us through interstellar space
Published on Friday, 11th December 2020.
What hygiene instincts do we have, and are they fit for purpose?
Published on Friday, 4th December 2020.
How can we reduce the spread of forest fires?
Published on Friday, 27th November 2020.
Why are some winds friendly and others fierce?
Published on Friday, 20th November 2020.
Listener Bebeto wants to know how to get rid of a pain in his wrist
Published on Friday, 13th November 2020.
An episode dedicated to the curious minds of our younger listeners
Published on Friday, 6th November 2020.
Why are some of us tone deaf, and can you improve your singing with practice?
Published on Friday, 30th October 2020.
Although they’re not technically ‘alive’ might viruses hold a place in our family tree?
Published on Friday, 23rd October 2020.
Does blushing have some sort of evolutionary purpose? And why do we yawn?
Published on Friday, 16th October 2020.
Crowdscience answers listeners’ celestial questions
Published on Friday, 9th October 2020.
We all have naked bodies – so why are we so embarrassed to show them?
Published on Friday, 25th September 2020.
Join the CrowdScience dinner party as we tackle listeners’ food questions
Published on Friday, 18th September 2020.
What does science say about controlling urination, and other bodily functions?
Published on Friday, 4th September 2020.
Yeast: the tiny organism with massive potential
Published on Friday, 21st August 2020.
Squelching into the science of slime.
Published on Friday, 14th August 2020.
Has reduced air travel due to pandemic lockdown affected our weather and climate?
Published on Friday, 7th August 2020.
Why do conspiracy theories exist and why are we seeing so many in this pandemic?
Published on Friday, 31st July 2020.
How was soap discovered, and what else is used for washing around the world?
Published on Friday, 24th July 2020.
Are peaceful seas an illusion? We find out how human sound affects life under the waves.
Published on Friday, 17th July 2020.
As they work the soil worms can hugely increase its fertility but there’s a downside.
Published on Friday, 10th July 2020.
How does a bare foot change our running pain and performance
Published on Friday, 3rd July 2020.
We, like most animals, have a variety of different blood types. But what are they for?
Published on Friday, 26th June 2020.
What does it feel like to be a cat or a cuttlefish?
Published on Friday, 19th June 2020.
What is the likelihood that an atom in your body has been used in someone else’s body?
Published on Friday, 12th June 2020.
Why do some people put themselves in danger to help others?
Published on Wednesday, 10th June 2020.
In this kids special, we explore a raft of questions from our younger listeners
Published on Friday, 29th May 2020.
How does one language become two, or even 7000?
Published on Friday, 22nd May 2020.
Is it time to reinvent the flush toilet?
Published on Friday, 15th May 2020.
We tackle particle physics questions from around the world
Published on Friday, 8th May 2020.
We tackle maths questions sent in by high school students in lockdown
Published on Friday, 1st May 2020.
What affects how much and where we sweat?
Published on Friday, 24th April 2020.
How instincts let spiders build complex structures
Published on Thursday, 23rd April 2020.
Listener Keith from Lincolnshire wants to know how to reduce stress - he's a firefighter.
Published on Friday, 10th April 2020.
Can we trick ourselves into running faster or playing better?
Published on Friday, 3rd April 2020.
Crowdscience investigates the brain science behind our buying behaviour
Published on Friday, 27th March 2020.
How much do DNA tests really tell you about your ancestors?
Published on Friday, 20th March 2020.
CrowdScience goes into labs to meet researchers urgently searching for COVID-19 solutions
Published on Friday, 13th March 2020.
Jump on-board a doomed mission to the Moon. Apollo 13: the extraordinary story
Published on Monday, 9th March 2020.
Kay from Hamburg wants to know where our obsession with crime comes from
Published on Friday, 6th March 2020.
Our expert panel tackle multiple meteorological queries in the CrowdScience inbox.
Published on Friday, 28th February 2020.
Why are some people magnets for mosquitos and others not? CrowdScience investigates
Published on Friday, 21st February 2020.
We take a look at cancer treatment’s dark past, its current state and future
Published on Friday, 14th February 2020.
Diseases have always been with us, but when did we first find ways to cure them?
Published on Friday, 7th February 2020.
A panel of experts discuss how digital technology and AI are transforming West Africa.
Published on Saturday, 1st February 2020.
Are humans capable of outwitting asteroids, volcanoes or other causes of mass extinction?
Published on Friday, 24th January 2020.
We tackle impossible-sounding questions on topics from infinity to quantum mechanics
Published on Friday, 17th January 2020.
We try to find out the best ways to reduce our carbon footprint
Published on Friday, 10th January 2020.
We explore the power of light to impact our health and wellbeing.
What drives our feelings of compassion for others – what is happening in our brains?
Published on Friday, 3rd January 2020.
We delve into the Crowdscience archive to hear how our shows changed listeners’ lives
Published on Friday, 20th December 2019.
The world’s insects are in trouble. What can each of us do to help them?
Published on Friday, 13th December 2019.
We explore an alternative reality where dinosaurs still roam the earth
Published on Thursday, 5th December 2019.
Hibernation could allow people to travel long distances in space. How realistic is it?
Published on Friday, 29th November 2019.
Is palm oil environmental foe or poverty-fighting crop? Graihagh Jackson investigates
Published on Thursday, 21st November 2019.
How machine learning is enabling minds to start melding with machines
Published on Friday, 15th November 2019.
We ask what happens in our body and brain when tiredness takes over
Published on Friday, 8th November 2019.
Most of us take speaking for granted, but for Breeda it has been a lifelong struggle
Published on Friday, 1st November 2019.
Could we repopulate salmon rivers?
Published on Friday, 25th October 2019.
Is maths a tool created by humans? Or is it reality itself?
Published on Friday, 18th October 2019.
What is the secret to living healthily into very old age?
Published on Friday, 11th October 2019.
Many people follow a plant based diet, but is a vegan diet really better for your health?
Published on Friday, 27th September 2019.
What does science have to say about the famous fictional detective?
Published on Friday, 20th September 2019.
What’s happening in my brain when I get a migraine? CrowdScience investigates
Published on Friday, 13th September 2019.
We probe the links between happiness, personality and culture
Published on Friday, 6th September 2019.
Would more satellites and space stations help us get further into the solar system?
Published on Friday, 30th August 2019.
We put science to the test to try and find out how can we best motivate ourselves.
Published on Friday, 23rd August 2019.
What could cause mass infertility? Marnie Chesterton investigates
Published on Friday, 16th August 2019.
There are ordinary people among us who are exceptionally good at predicting the future
Published on Monday, 5th August 2019.
Published on Friday, 2nd August 2019.
We tackle the science of scowling, gesturing, and counting
Published on Friday, 26th July 2019.
When will sci fi’s favourite technologies become reality?
Published on Friday, 19th July 2019.
The story of how our ancestors tamed plants and animals
Published on Friday, 12th July 2019.
What drives the body to crave something that isn’t real food?
Published on Friday, 5th July 2019.
Should our cities cater less for cars and what are the alternatives?
Published on Friday, 28th June 2019.
Can certain breathing techniques improve your exercise performance?
Published on Friday, 21st June 2019.
We investigate how science is uncovering new ways to help beat long-term depression
Published on Friday, 14th June 2019.
Could this much-loved musical pastime improve our mental and physical strength?
Published on Friday, 7th June 2019.
How are we changing genetically to adapt to modern lifestyles and our environment
Published on Friday, 31st May 2019.
We revisit our episode on dust to decide what we should do with our invisible housemates
Published on Friday, 24th May 2019.
Marnie Chesterton answers Indian listener Gautam’s question about dark life
Published on Friday, 17th May 2019.
How do trillions of individual cells work together to build bodies?
Published on Friday, 10th May 2019.
When did we switch from eating our food raw, to heating it?
Published on Saturday, 4th May 2019.
CrowdScience travels to Georgia in search of solutions to antibiotic resistance
Published on Friday, 26th April 2019.
CrowdScience finds out if there’s a limit to what physicists at CERN can discover
Published on Friday, 19th April 2019.
Humans seem programmed to appreciate beauty – but why?
Published on Friday, 12th April 2019.
Do we actually need to dream? Is there an evolutionary reason for it?
Published on Friday, 5th April 2019.
Is switching from dairy milk to plant-based milks a healthier choice?
Published on Friday, 29th March 2019.
What makes us fawn over a puppy, but run away from rats?
Published on Friday, 22nd March 2019.
We head to South Africa’s biggest science festival for a debate before a live audience
Published on Friday, 15th March 2019.
Is shyness written in our genes, or more to do with our upbringing?
Published on Friday, 8th March 2019.
We turn our gaze skywards to tackle three questions about what’s going on above us
Published on Friday, 1st March 2019.
Why have a big brain if a small one would do?
Published on Friday, 22nd February 2019.
Our species started in Africa, but what was the last habitable landmass we reached?
Published on Friday, 15th February 2019.
Might ancient ice from the Antarctic depths contain deadly viruses?
Published on Friday, 8th February 2019.
Could we recycle all of our unwanted household materials ourselves?
Published on Friday, 1st February 2019.
The practice of burial stretches back deep into prehistory, but how did it evolve?
Published on Friday, 25th January 2019.
CrowdScience goes hunting for lost memories
Published on Friday, 18th January 2019.
Eruptions cause chaos and destruction, but could they also be an energy source?
Published on Friday, 11th January 2019.
Birds are dinosaurs, but did their extinct relatives move, look, or sing like they do?
Published on Friday, 4th January 2019.
CrowdScience goes interstellar to examine the future of space travel
Published on Friday, 28th December 2018.
Could we lose weight just by exercising our brain?
Published on Monday, 24th December 2018.
Can science explain why romantic rejection hurts?
Published on Friday, 14th December 2018.
Marnie Chesterton examines how men and women age differently
Published on Friday, 7th December 2018.
CrowdScience goes digging to find out how soil could help keep CO2 out of the air
Published on Friday, 30th November 2018.
Anand Jagatia sets out to discover why we can’t all agree when we follow our noses
Published on Friday, 23rd November 2018.
Marnie Chesterton attempts to apply science and evidence to the art of speech
Published on Friday, 16th November 2018.
Exploring what we would need to make a baby outside the body
Published on Friday, 9th November 2018.
CrowdScience travels deep underground to visit one final resting place for nuclear waste.
Published on Friday, 2nd November 2018.
CrowdScience takes a look at life with artificial vision
Published on Friday, 26th October 2018.
CrowdScience joins a 246km running race in search of the secrets of human endurance
Published on Friday, 19th October 2018.
How rational people can hold irrational beliefs and why ‘luck’ may be a state of mind
Published on Friday, 12th October 2018.
Hurricanes – could science hold any solutions to these devastating events?
Published on Tuesday, 9th October 2018.
Crowd Science reaches its 100th episode
Published on Friday, 28th September 2018.
All of us laugh, and it may seem obvious why we do, but what does the science say?
Published on Friday, 21st September 2018.
E-cigarettes are becoming increasingly popular but just how safe are they?
Published on Friday, 14th September 2018.
How can your brain handle driving at 70mph while your mind is busy wandering?
Published on Friday, 7th September 2018.
In the animal kingdom, switching sex is more common than you might think
Published on Friday, 31st August 2018.
Could Mars be a planet where life existed? Marnie Chesterton explains
Published on Friday, 24th August 2018.
Could oceanic cities become a reality, and how might they be built?
Published on Saturday, 18th August 2018.
What is light and can we trap it in a box? Marnie Chesterton investigates.
Published on Friday, 10th August 2018.
Getting rid of an invader that people think is cute poses all sorts of prickly problems…
Published on Friday, 3rd August 2018.
Why do we often ignore our parents’ advice?
Published on Friday, 27th July 2018.
What’s going on in a magnetic field?
Published on Friday, 20th July 2018.
Anand Jagatia looks at the science behind why we have different skin colours
Published on Friday, 13th July 2018.
Have you ever seen a Brussels sprout growing in the wild? Neither has listener Pogo.
Published on Friday, 6th July 2018.
Plants do communicate, but what are they talking about? Sex seems a likely answer
Published on Thursday, 28th June 2018.
Will we run out of groundwater and what will happen if we do?
Published on Friday, 22nd June 2018.
Why does one person’s heavenly music sound like boring noise to another?
Published on Friday, 15th June 2018.
Can science explain what’s going on when someone is hypnotised?
Published on Friday, 8th June 2018.
The future is electric but are zero emission vehicles as clean as the manufacturers claim?
Published on Friday, 1st June 2018.
Marnie Chesterton investigates the science behind low-calorie and time-restricted eating
Published on Friday, 25th May 2018.
How computers can be faster, but brains are still better
Published on Friday, 18th May 2018.
What role does dance play in human life and evolution? We head to Cuba to find out
Published on Friday, 11th May 2018.
How does biology and culture shape what’s delicious and disgusting?
Published on Friday, 4th May 2018.
What are our options for removing carbon dioxide from the air?
Published on Friday, 27th April 2018.
Are screens bad for my child’s eyes? Marnie Chesterton presents
Published on Friday, 20th April 2018.
What does the Higgs boson do for the Universe? Why do insects fly into lights?
Published on Friday, 13th April 2018.
We speak to scientists searching for a cure for dementia
Published on Friday, 6th April 2018.
Can we produce artificial food sources providing all nutrients for healthy human life?
Published on Friday, 30th March 2018.
Our hunt for perfect stillness takes us back to the early days of science and into space
Published on Saturday, 24th March 2018.
Discover the secrets of your inner sheep and whether the crowd is as wise as they say
Published on Friday, 16th March 2018.
After all the money spent, are we really anywhere close to limitless clean energy?
Published on Friday, 9th March 2018.
How can we humans use other animals’ senses for our benefit?
Published on Friday, 2nd March 2018.
Can animals of the same species from different places communicate with each other?
Published on Friday, 23rd February 2018.
We investigate the moon's effects on life on Earth from early births to interrupted sleep
Published on Friday, 16th February 2018.
Scientists have been hunting for it for decades, but will finding it change our lives?
Published on Friday, 9th February 2018.
Must Carbon be the building block of life in the universe?
Published on Friday, 2nd February 2018.
Is it possible to see 15 quintillion miles away?
Published on Friday, 26th January 2018.
Meet the entrepreneurs turning bugs into food and get top tips on how to cook them
Published on Friday, 19th January 2018.
How do our brains tell the difference between music and speech?
Published on Friday, 12th January 2018.
Dogs are our best friends. But why do they fit so seamlessly into human life?
Published on Friday, 5th January 2018.
Facial recognition could transform personal security but how easily can it be fooled?
Published on Friday, 29th December 2017.
Reindeer castration, plants get chatty and more quirky science revealed.
Published on Friday, 22nd December 2017.
Most people think it’s just dead skin. But what’s really hiding in your dust?
Published on Tuesday, 19th December 2017.
We revisit the oldest organism on Earth and meet the strongest
Published on Friday, 8th December 2017.
Dodos are an icon of extinction, but could we bring them back?
Published on Friday, 1st December 2017.
Are computer algorithms the best way to help people make permanent romantic connections?
Published on Monday, 27th November 2017.
What makes some of us early birds and others night owls?
Published on Friday, 17th November 2017.
Does your memory sometimes fail you?
Published on Friday, 10th November 2017.
It was one of the most unlikely events in history. But how did fish become land animals?
Published on Friday, 3rd November 2017.
Can science and engineering tackle annoying, ear-damaging sounds?
Published on Tuesday, 31st October 2017.
Many people believe in an afterlife. Does science have any proof it exists?
Published on Friday, 20th October 2017.
Could parasites help give our immune systems a boost and help us fight disease?
Published on Friday, 13th October 2017.
Where did our climate last have this much carbon dioxide?
Published on Friday, 6th October 2017.
Human organs are in short supply. But what if you could grow news ones in the lab?
Published on Friday, 29th September 2017.
Is it fair to kill invasive species which humans have introduced?
Published on Friday, 22nd September 2017.
Just one per cent of vehicles are powered by electricity
Published on Friday, 15th September 2017.
Nuclear weapons and mega asteroids: what would the aftermath look like?
Published on Friday, 8th September 2017.
Your questions about the super abilities of insects
Published on Friday, 1st September 2017.
Could trees be even better at tackling air pollution than previously thought?
Published on Friday, 25th August 2017.
Your questions about life, Earth & the universe tackled by a panel of experts.
Published on Friday, 18th August 2017.
Can we collect electricity from lightning?
Published on Friday, 11th August 2017.
Are humans the only species that murder each other? We head to the rainforest to find out
Published on Friday, 4th August 2017.
Why do we sound so different from each other – even when we speak the same language?
Published on Friday, 28th July 2017.
How much of the justice system could be replaced by technology?
Published on Friday, 21st July 2017.
We look at how nicotine tricks the brain into thinking tobacco’s good for us.
Published on Friday, 14th July 2017.
Does Time really exist or is it all in our heads?
Published on Friday, 7th July 2017.
Do we think in words, images, or abstract concepts?
Published on Friday, 30th June 2017.
This week we hack the secret plant communication network “The Wood Wide Web”.
Published on Friday, 23rd June 2017.
Can your lifestyle be passed on to future generations?
Published on Friday, 16th June 2017.
How do microclimates affect our weather and our lives?
Published on Friday, 9th June 2017.
What is the oldest tree or other living organism on Earth?
Published on Friday, 2nd June 2017.
Unlike most animals, human facial features evolved to have more variety. But why?
Published on Friday, 26th May 2017.
Why is it more painful for some women than others?
Published on Friday, 19th May 2017.
Why can’t commercial planes have ejector seats, like fighter jets do?
Published on Friday, 12th May 2017.
We plunge into the weird world of sex determination.
Published on Friday, 5th May 2017.
CrowdScience explores the biometric systems capturing our identities
Published on Friday, 28th April 2017.
When will we reach ‘peak human’ and how will we cope?
Published on Friday, 21st April 2017.
Could we mine on asteroids?
Published on Friday, 14th April 2017.
Should we eat more insects? CrowdScience meets the people turning caterpillars into food
Published on Friday, 7th April 2017.
What makes us sound so different from each other – even when speaking the same language?
Published on Friday, 31st March 2017.
Can a rain shower really cause aches and pains?
Published on Saturday, 25th March 2017.
Science meets film in a special edition recorded live at South by Southwest Festival, USA.
Published on Saturday, 18th March 2017.
Can we blame our weight on factors like genes or our environment?
Published on Tuesday, 14th March 2017.
Trees take in carbon dioxide but they also convert some of the toxic gases in our air.
Published on Saturday, 4th March 2017.
We see a robot at work in the operating theatre and meet the robots Molly and Pepper.
Published on Saturday, 25th February 2017.
Being social has lots of benefits – so why do cats live alone?
Published on Saturday, 18th February 2017.
Examining the evidence that humans could somehow come back into existence after dying.
Published on Saturday, 11th February 2017.
Earth’s surface may be 70 percent water but many places are struggling to access it.
Published on Saturday, 4th February 2017.
The history of time-keeping and the science behind the most accurate clocks today
Published on Sunday, 29th January 2017.
There are over 500 breeds of dog – but are they really as different as they seem?
Published on Saturday, 21st January 2017.
The hunt for Martians on the Red Planet continues – but has life already been taken there?
Published on Saturday, 14th January 2017.
Cleanliness and health go hand in hand, but have we gone too far?
Published on Saturday, 7th January 2017.
Is there a killer asteroid with Earth’s name on it?
Published on Saturday, 31st December 2016.
Could we generate all our electricity using energy from the sea?
Published on Saturday, 24th December 2016.
Is being a team player and putting yourself second really the best strategy?
Published on Saturday, 17th December 2016.
How would a fourth dimensional being appear to humans?
Published on Saturday, 10th December 2016.
What effect does air travel have on the climate?
Published on Monday, 5th December 2016.
Did life on earth evolve from the first viruses?
Published on Monday, 28th November 2016.
Can batteries power our entire homes – or even help take us off-grid?
Published on Saturday, 19th November 2016.
What do scientists think is outside our universe?
Published on Saturday, 12th November 2016.
Can we tap electricity from lightning? John in Uganda wants to know.
Published on Monday, 7th November 2016.
